Worth Fighting For
by Elfgirl96
Summary: Set post-Graduation. Dr. Drakken finally has the recognition and respect he's craved for so long, but there's one thing in his life more important than all of that. He just has to realize what it is - and decide whether he's brave enough to fight for it. Drakken/Shego. Rated for mild language and themes.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I've read a few fanfictions, the most notable being The Life After by imitateslife, where Drakken ends up in some sort of scientific/research/teaching job and Shego stays on as his assistant. Although I could imagine a lot of different possibilities for these two after the series finale, this is the one that has always clicked for me, so it's the one I chose to use. **

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I own absolutely nothing. Drakken, Shego, and everyone else belong to Disney. Sigh. **

It's the first time Drakken can have his mother visit without having to lie about what he does or worry that she'll accidentally destroy something, and he's in an oddly good mood about it. At least, he's not dreading it as much as usual, and he takes a certain pride in straightening up the apartment, dusting off tabletops and fluffing the couch pillows. He's breezing through these tasks easily until he steps back into the bedroom to make the bed and sees Shego still curled beneath the blankets.

_Shego_.

Of course. There's always one thing he overlooks that will throw a wrench in his entire plan. Some things never change.

He hasn't told his mother about him and Shego. Of course he hasn't. Not when she'd been dropping not-so-subtle hints that he and his sidekick had sworn never to discuss. If he admitted that he'd finally gotten himself a girlfriend - Shego hates that word - and that all her hinting had finally paid off, she would gloat. And then start poking and prodding and dropping even more hints, ones about marriage and - he shudders to think of it - children. No. There is absolutely no way his mother can know about this.

Drakken glances at his watch. His mother will be there in an hour; Shego is still asleep. He is left with only one very unpleasant option.

He has to wake her up.

"Shego," he whispers, leaning down. "Shego...Shego?" A few more tries, and he's finally frustrated enough to yell, "Shego!"

She springs upward, her hands igniting on instinct. He leaps out of blast range. When she sees it's him the glow fades, though she's still irate. "_What_?" Oh, dear. He should have known by the six alarm clocks she's destroyed in the past three weeks that Shego doesn't take kindly to being woken up.

"Sorry," he says. "But I had to wake you up. My mother's going to be here in an hour."

She crosses her arms. "No, you did not have to wake me up for that. She's your problem, not mine. I'm not helping you entertain her."

"I'm not asking you too, but I would at least like you to be dressed when she arrives," he grumbles.

Shego glares at him for another moment. "Fine," she finally relents, throwing back the covers and stalking into the bathroom. He breathes a sigh of relief and begins making the bed. Then, of course, another thought occurs to him, so when Shego emerges from the bathroom in a robe with her hair in a towel, he turns towards her to say, "Shego, I haven't exactly told me mother...about...us."

"Great," she mutters. "This is just going to be _all kinds of fun_, isn't it?" He has to remind himself that he misses his sarcasm when she's not there before heading for the living room and leaving her to get dressed.

Shego is sitting at the kitchen counter with a cup of coffee and a magazine and he is obsessively tidying the bookshelf for the third time when the doorbell rings. Drakken rushes for the door while Shego rolls her eyes; opening it quickly (his mother _hates_ to be kept waiting) he greets her, ushers her inside, tells her how glad he is to see her and giving her a brief tour of the apartment.

"I just can't believe it," Mama Lipsky gushes. "My little Drewby, first a radio talk show host and now researching at a big fancy college."

"Yes, well..." Drakken searches awkwardly for a change of subject. "Mother, you remember Shego, right?"

Shego looks up with a jolt. He can tell she's tensed, hyper-alert, the way she used to be before a fight with Kim Possible. "Hello, Mrs. Lipsky," she sighs.

Drakken's mother scrutinizes her. "You're the one who used to run around in the jumpsuits, aren't you? What is it exactly that you do?"

"Shego is my assistant," Drakken explains swiftly. Shego watches him, waiting for him to say more; when he doesn't, her eyes narrow before she looks back to her magazine. Mrs. Lipsky continues babbling. Drakken half-answers her questions while pondering what he's done to tick Shego off this time - unless she was trying to warn him not to say anything else -

"Dr. Drakken?" Shego's voice is far too polite. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I really do need to ask you a question about the new research grant before I can finish that paperwork you wanted. Would you excuse us for a moment, Mrs. Lipsky?" She slides off the bar stool and strides into the bedroom. Drakken follows, closing the door and directing a puzzled glance in her direction.

"I thought you said that paperwork was done, Shego."

She grabs him and slams him against the wall. "This isn't about the paperwork! What _was_ that out there?"

He scrambles beneath her grip. "What was _what_?"

"Did you already tell her and I missed it? Because she's handling it remarkably well." If he answers yes, she won't have to hit him. She's not sure if that's a good thing - she needs something to hit right about now. "I mean, you said this morning she didn't know. You did say that, right? There wasn't just water in my ears?"

"No, of course not. She doesn't know, and I still haven't told her."

"Well, then, what are you waiting for? Come on, Dr. D, putting it off will only make it worse. Just get it over with."

Drakken swallows, a little nervous now. "Ah, Shego...it's just that...well, I'm not sure if it's a good idea to give mother all of the..._details_ yet."

"Like what? That we're together? That we're sleeping together? That I'm living here? Which details were you planning to omit, _Drew?_"

"Er, well...all of them."

"_What?_ So you're not going to tell her anything. Ever?"

"Shego, you know she wouldn't approve-"

Shego's grip releases as she steps back. "Oh," she says softly, and this frightens him far more than if she'd come at him swinging. He's _used_ to that. "Oh, I see. Don't worry, I get it. I understand." Quiet venom laces her words. Drakken doesn't dare move. He's never seen her this furious before and he doesn't know what she'll do.

"And that's what this is all really about, isn't it? You don't have to hide anything from your mother anymore. You can finally tell her what you're actually doing, show her the nice apartment you actually own, tell her how well everything's going. You finally deserve all that praise she gives you." Shego shakes her head, emitting a soundless and humorless laugh. "The only thing that doesn't fit - the only thing you can't be proud of - is me."

She spins and stalks out of the room. Drakken gapes stupidly after her for half a second before rushing out after her. "Shego-!"

She's in the kitchen. He lunges for the door. "Shego-"

She's gathering up her magazine and a stack of papers, dumping her coffee, sliding her purse over her shoulder.

"Don't worry, Doc," she says, still feigning politeness for his mother's benefit. "I'll get these papers in and everything should be smooth sailing from there."

He desperately needs to talk to her, but with his mother there, he's forced to keep up the charade. "Don't go yet," he pleads, his voice weak. "Stay for lunch."

Her sarcastic smile flashes again. "Thank you, but I _really_ can't. Things to do, you know." She she starts to step out the door. The words she tosses over her shoulder slam into his chest. "I'll see you on Monday. At work." And then she's gone and he hears the tires of her red convertible squealing out of the driveway, and he's left there barely breathing. She's just told him that she's not coming back, and he doesn't know if she meant tonight or ever. Either way, he's not sure he'll survive


	2. Chapter 2

"Drew, honey, you've barely touched your lunch. Are you feeling okay?" His mother leans forward to inspect his plate. "And you didn't eat the brownies I made you."

And she makes darn good brownies, he thinks ruefully.

"What's wrong, sweetie?"

Drakken has been sitting here for the better part of an hour, hunched over the kitchen table with his head in his hands, studying the wooden surface. He'd been hoping his mother would just babble on, but she is nothing if not attentive, so of course she noticed.

"Nothing," he mutters, still staring at the table. "Oh, now, you know that doesn't fool me. Something is obviously upsetting you. Just tell me, Drewby. Whatever it is, it can't be that bad."

Of course it's not that bad. His heart and mind are only being dragged through every level of hell as he wonders where Shego is and how he could be so stupid. "Shego," he mumbles.

"What was that?"

That's when he snaps. _Drew Lipsky, you really are the world's biggest coward, you know that?_ Furious with himself, he shoves his chair back so that it clatters to the floor and stands up forcefully, banging his hands on that damn tabletop.

"I said _Shego_. That woman-" he gestures towards the door, because it's the last place either of them saw her. "That wonderful, annoying, irresistible, dangerous, beautiful woman, is the most important person in my life and has been for a while now. And today, I might have lost her - because I refused to tell you that she and I are together. That she's living here. Because I was worried you'd disapprove. But Shego is more important to me than anyone's approval, one way or another."

He takes a deep breath and calmly picks up his chair. "Now, if you'll excuse me, mother. I'm very sorry to have to cut out visit short, but I'm going after her."

Drakken doesn't look back as he walks out the door. He can't even imagine what his mother's face looks like, but he also knows he doesn't care. It doesn't matter. He's going to find Shego.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Finally finished! Sorry for the ridiculously long time it took to update this. Hope you enjoy!**

This warehouse is one of the few places she's allowed to become familiar. It's changed hands dozens of times, but has mostly stored electronic of mechanical parts, meaning Drakken sent her to steal things from here plenty of times. In between owners, she would use the empty space as a place to practice her fighting skills or blow off steam when she was tense. Now she's standing in the middle of the room, flinging plasma blasts at the far wall. Scorch marked are carved into the cement and she's exhausted from expending all that energy, but she doesn't stop, just keeps demolishing the wall, imagine it's Drakken or his mother or - really, anyone would do at this point.

She should have known. Shego curses herself for being so stupid and not seeing this coming. Drakken has always been _so_ insecure, it just never mattered before. How he's perceived is so important to him. It's all he had. He never wanted to rule the world, and she knows that even if he won't admit it. He just wanted some kind of recognition from those who ridiculed him.

And now he finally has that. He's accepted, approved of, respected not only by his mother but by his colleagues and scientists all over the world. So of course he hasn't told any of them that he's involved with his just-over-half-his-age assistant. People would pounce on that kind of information, and it would destroy what credibility he'd managed to establish.

Shego can even understand that. She just wishes - _ugh!_ - that he was self-confidant enough to at least tell _someone_. That he wasn't _ashamed_ of her. She's reached her limit of being his "assistant", his "secretary", sometimes his "friend" when he's feeling bold. Her next blast obliterates a crate of whatever's being stored in the warehouse this time, but she doesn't care. In fact, she hopes it's something Drakken desperately needs for whatever he's working on at the moment.

"Shego?"

She pivots, her hands still blazing green. Drakken stands a few yards away, looking desperate and apologetic but not at all afraid, new territory for this kind of situation.

He continues before she can respond - or attack him. "I am, without a doubt, the biggest coward and the biggest idiot known to man." He starts walking closer, never taking his eyes off her. "I'm probably a complete waste of time. You have every right to walk out on me now and never come back."

Her hands tighten into fists. No! Why won't he fight for her?

"But Shego, I really, really wish you wouldn't."

The words startle her so much that the glow vanishes from her hands.

"God knows I can't stop you if you really want to go, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try. I can't make you forgive me, but I'm going to say I'm sorry a million times anyway. I'm sorry." He takes a step closer. "I'm sorry." Another step. "I'm sorry." They're

barely inches apart now, and she's still too stunned to move.

"I'm sorry," he says again, placing his hands on her shoulders, keeping her firmly in front of him.

She closes her eyes because they're too close for her to look away. "Look, I get that you can't tell anyone. I just can't deal with it. I can't deal with you being ashamed of me-"

"No, Shego, don't. Why - how could you possibly think that?"

"Oh, I don't know." She doesn't want to be sarcastic, but it springs up as her first line of defense incase he's lying. "Why else wouldn't you tell _anyone_?"

He pulls her in even closer, holding her. "Because I am a selfish bastard," he whispers, leaning in to kiss the top of her head. "And I want you all to myself."

Her anger has evaporated far more easily than she expected it to. She sinks into him, lets him be the only thing to keep her upright. His arms are surprisingly strong.

"But I'll shout it from the rooftops if you want me too. I'll tell everyone I see that I am the luckiest man in the world, because _you_ are mine."

She still doesn't say anything, but she wraps her arm around Drakken in return, letting him know that she's not angry anymore, that she's forgiven him - that she's not going anywhere and is going to be his for a long time yet.

"Come on, Shego," he murmurs. "Let's go home.


End file.
